Sixth seed Sanaa Bhambri of India made a premature exit when she was shocked by unseeded Wing-Yau Chan of Hong Kong 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 in the second round of the Shivaji Park Gymkhana-ITF $10,000 women's tennis tournament, in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Sanaa got off to a shaky start and struggled to win the opening set. Her form deserted her as she was forced into errors. The Indian lost her way as Chan ignored the early setback and snatched the next two sets and the match with crucial breaks.
In contrast, Sanaa's sister and top seed Ankita ended qualifier and compatriot Sonal Phadke's campaign with a comfortable 6-1, 6-2 win to enter the quarter-finals.
Unseeded Pichittra Thongdach of Thailand, no stranger to the Shivaji Park Gymkhana, ended Indian qualifier Geeta Manohar's run with an impressive 6-2, 6-3 win to book a place in the quarter-finals.
Joining Thongdach in the last eight were compatriots Nudnida Luangnam and Thassha Vitaviroj and qualifier Ito Kazusa of Japan.
Results (2nd round): Nudnida Luangnam (Thai) bt Ling Zhang (HK) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4; Kazusa Ito (Jpn) bt Miki Miyamura (Jpn) 7-5, 6-3; Pichittra Thongdach (Thai) bt Geeta Manohar (Ind) 6-2, 6-3; Thassha Vitaviroj (Thai) bt Lavinia Tananta (Ina) 6-4, 6-3; Wing-Yau Venise Chan (HK) bt Sanaa Bhambri (Ind) 5-7, 6-2, 6-3; Ankita Bhambri (Ind) bt Sonal Phadke (Ind) 6-1, 6-2.
1st round: Isha Lakhani (Ind) bt Czarina-Mae Arevalo (Phi) 6-4, 6-2; Wing-Yau Venise Chan (HK) bt Natasha Khan (Gbr) 6-2, 7-5; Sandy Gumulya (Ina) bt Claire Peterzan (Gbr).
Doubles (1st round): Nudnida Luangnam/Thassha Vitaviroj (Thai) bt Shao-Yuan Kao (Tpe)/Shuang Wu (Chn) 6-7 (10), 7-5, 6-1; Kavitha Krishnamurthy (Can)/Varanya Vijuksanaboon (Thai) bt Parul Goswami/Punam Reddy (Ind) 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2.
